R.i.P. Joshua Gullion

I lost a friend today. Joshua Gullion, a pillar of the Pathfinder community, has passed away.

I met Joshua, like many others, on the Paizo-boards in my function as a reviewer under his handle KTFish7 and when my health faltered, he kept us all informed with great reviews. Unlike others, though, we started talking, sharing experiences and he always was a pleasant, magnificent person in his interactions with me. I was extremely glad when he moved on from reviewing to doing the layout for AAW Games and you can see the positive impact he had there.

Thanks to him, I got to know Jonathan Nelson, who is one of the finest people in the industry and someone I’m glad to call “friend”.

But Joshua did more than that.

When I heard he had a stroke, I buckled up and called him in hospital. We had never spoken to each other before and talked for HOURS. I will eternally be grateful for this call – beyond him asking me to join one of the most fun design experiences I’ve ever been in with Rise of the Drow, his positivity and can-do attitude, the utter lack of whining and complaining – that is what inspired me. And I mean “inspired” in the truest sense of the word. That’s the type of person Joshua was.

Joshua has changed my life for the better with his joy, his friendliness and his honesty. He has taken more bitterness and cynicism off my shoulders in a scant few hours than I could deem possible. I am not exaggerating when I say that I’d be less of a man today without him.

It is my eternal regret that my financial situation never permitted me to fly to him over the pond and roll some dice with him. I can hardly fathom how hard to bear this loss must be for everyone who had the pleasure and privilege to have known Joshua better than I was blessed to.

Joshua’s ability to create joy lives on in his craft, his books and friends. It suffuses the pages and to know that one’s legacy survives, that it continues to bring to joy to people world-wide, that’s something glorious.

Joshua, I told you in private what you did for me. I’m not good at being emotional. Rest in Peace, my friend. My condolences go out to all those blessed to have had Joshua in their lives. Let’s roll some dice in his honor and may what he has wrought in us never come undone, may his spirit live on.